Money makes the world go round. It's an old adage that goes down well with yuppies and parents (especially when you're young and don't want to get a job). But I think it's one of the greatest fallacies of all time. Money doesn't make the world go round, it makes everything come screaming to a halt and stops good ideas from getting anywhere. Money grounds us in all the wrong ways, especially when it comes to contracts and rights for creative ideas.

Now stories, stories are what make the world go round, and more than this they help us define our place in the world, help us hold on when the world is spinning so fast it feels like we'll hurtle off into outer space. But not only does money not make the world go round, it stops stories from making the world go round too. Money imprisons all the good ideas in some dark and horrid place leaving the world to go round without them.

Now, you may have guessed I'm ranting about something, and yes I guess I am. I can't really go into much detail now because it's about a deal that's still up in the air. But let's just say that, if it wasn't for complications over rights and contracts and money then The Inventors might soon be appearing on the telly. The company that are interested just want to tell great stories, and I do to. But alas, at the end of the day, it all comes down to money.

Anyway, rant over. I'll keep you informed about what happens. I'm so excited about the prospect of this happening so keep your fingers crossed!

PS. Started a new book this morning so I'm feeling very happy about that!

Well it's taken me a little longer than I thought to get round to my New Year's post. Twenty-two days to be precise. But I do have a good excuse, kind of... I've actually finally properly really started my diet, the same diet I've been saying I'm going to start every other day for the past two years. I haven't touched any chocolates or sweets since the beginning of the year and I've only had two take-aways (treat days as I've come to call them) instead of, well, twenty-two!

I've been going down the gym too, which is actually quite daunting because nobody in there seems to need to lose any weight, they're all either very athletic or positively bulging with muscles! And then there's me absolutely drenched in sweat, my belly rippling like a statue made from jelly and grunting like a sick reindeer as I make my merry way on the cycle machine thing. I'm definitely getting fitter though, and it does feel good to lose weight. I've gone from a whopping 16st1lb on January 1st to 15st5lb today. Okay there's still a way to go, but I'm actually getting there this time!

Keeping with my New Year New Everything plan I've also got a brand spanking new computer, which is nice. My old laptop was steadily losing its grip on reality, constantly telling me it was actually 1968 and wheezing through its battery life in all of twenty minutes. I thought I'd give it a break and put it out of its misery. It's actually quite sad. I grow quite attached to my computers, especially this one which I wrote The Inventors in the City of Stolen Souls on, and Furnace and another book (huh? you ask, what books are these? I'll tell all soon). I might take it apart and use the case as a pencil pot or something so it's still here in spirit... I did that a while back with my ancient eMac, using the faceplate as a mirror for my bathroom! So New Me, New Computer too! That's a piccy of it up there, which you probably guessed.

There's only really the new book to talk about, but I don't want to say too much yet as it's a surprise. I finished it last year and sent it to my agent, Sophie. She read it whilst on holiday in Morocco and loved it, so hopefully we're going to have a discussion about it soon. I will post again soon, but I can't wait to tell you all about it!